Why just build a life-size LEGO Bugatti Chiron when you can actually drive it? Engineers have constructed a fully drivable Bugatti Chiron using LEGO Technic parts. Yes, it is roadworthy, and no glue was not used in its assembly.
Designer Aurelien Rouffiange and his team built the 1:8 scale model of the Chiron and decided to challenge themselves by creating a full-size, self-propelled Chiron to test the strength of the Technic system. Sixteen design, mechanical, and electrical specialists at the LEGO facility in Kladno, Czech Republic, built the car. It took more than 13,000-man hours to complete. The life-size LEGO Bugatti Chiron weighs 1,500 kg and contains over 1 million Technic elements.
“Trying to match the elegant curves of the Bugatti Chiron using only LEGO Technic elements was the first challenge,” noted the French car manufacturer. “Creating the engine was the second.”
Designers thought using Technic motorized parts in the engine was a plausible concept and brought their idea to life. The engine contains thousands of Technic components, including 2,304 LEGO power functions motors, 4,032 LEGO Technic gear wheels, and 2,016 LEGO Technic cross axles. The speedometer is fully functional and is made entirely of Technic parts. There’s even a rear spoiler made of both LEGO power functions and pneumatics.
After months of research and development, the team headed to the Ehra Lessien test track outside Wolfsburg, Germany, to test its creation and to see if it actually worked. The test track is the same location where the original Bugatti Chiron was tested. Andy Wallace, an official Bugatti test driver and former Le Mans winner, took the LEGO version out for its initial run.
“Our amazing LEGO Technic car just kept on going,” Bugatti boasts in a video about the project.
Granted, the LEGO Chiron only possesses a “theoretical performance of 5.3 HP.” Compare that to an actual Chiron, which boasts a whopping 1,500 horsepower.
Watch the LEGO Bugatti Chiron in action here.
